TeamLease shares surge 20% on debut

BENGALURU: TeamLease Services shares were up by 20% on the first day of trading at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). While the company's offer price was Rs 850, the trading opened at Rs 860 and closed at Rs 1,023 after hitting a high of Rs 1,032 during the day. The overall market was up by 0.2%.
The Bengaluru-based staffing firm's IPO was oversubscribed by 65 times last week, with a majority of the bid shares coming from non-institutional investors.The shares were allotted to these investors at Rs 850 a piece, the upper end of the IPO price band of Rs 785-850 per share.
"I remind people who tell us that this was a bad time to list that we could have had our debut yesterday," TeamLease co-founder Manish Sabharwal told TOI, adding that this is a day to be humble.
"The listing is an important milestone for a company we have been thinking about for 18 years and working at for 12 years. It's inspiring that people who don't know us personally have trusted us and we will work hard to ensure that we deserve and repay their trust over time," he said.
The company, founded in 2002, will garner Rs 423 crore at the upper end of the IPO price band, including Rs 150 crore through fresh issue of shares, the proceeds of which will be used towards acquisition and other strategic initiatives, upgradation of the existing IT infrastructure, working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.
TeamLease's employment services include temporary staffing solutions, permanent recruitment services and regulatory consultancy for labour law compliance. It currently has 99,090 associates across the country and have till date provided employment to about 1.12 million people.